So glad I saw this post at The Green Classroom about not throwing away plastic bottles. The idea is just right for some learning and readiness for kindergarten fun about the number 9.
Using an empty water bottle, find 9 objects that will fit inside but aren’t too small to get buried in the filling. Add some filler, like bean seeds, rice, corn or pasta. (Or, the hole-punch at work that no one ever empties would be a treasure trove of paper holes!) It’s important to leave some space at the top for the filler to move around. I took a quick picture of the 9 items and printed it off. Once I’d cut it out, I glued it to the bottom of the bottle. Now, the munchkin at our house can shake the bottle all around and look for the 9 treasures in the bottle. The picture shows what’s there to be found.
Number sense is something that children develop from lots of exploration with numbers and counting. While older kids are ready to count the 9 items in the bottle, younger ones may not yet be able to hold that many of something in mind. They may only be interested in the hide-and-seek part. After experiences with numbers, they will gradually build up their understanding of “nineness”. Other ways, besides the bottle of 9, to help grow the idea of 9 might include having your child hop 9 times, put away 9 toys in the toy box, filling up a container of water while having a bath and pouring it out 9 times, making a line of 9 fishy crackers or 9 cheerios, etc. Will 9 blocks all stack on top of each other before they fall over? Do 9 cars fit in a tissue box garage? These are ways that your child can play and discover about 9.
Here’s the link to the post about bottles:
https://yourgreenclassroom.blogspot.com/2012/01/turn-plastic-bottles-into-magical.html
Does this give you some ideas about how to support and encourage your child’s number learning?